


Constellations of Fireflies

by redspedic



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Other, Stargazing, a n d unspoken love from our favorite tracker, and cheesy dancing, and constellations, and fireflies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-12 01:52:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18001541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redspedic/pseuds/redspedic
Summary: Under the light of the moon, the fireflies started to gather around both of them.Their first dance would be something they'd both remember.





	Constellations of Fireflies

The wood pressing against their back felt hard and slightly uncomfortable - yet, they couldn't think of themself moving elsewhere. In the slightest, the tree also felt relaxing to them; like it would've been massaging their hardened muscles on their back; with a slight move of their shoulder, they could feel the tree press against their scapula.

As they breathed in the cool air of the darkened evening, the clock almost pointing its hand at midnight, they felt the man beside them shift.  
"See that?" Mirage, sitting close to their side, pointed out a constellation up on the sky. Bloodhound tilted their chin up to see the pattern made of stars Mirage was excited about.  
"Which one?"  
"That one", he tried to point further at the sky, miserably still failing to show the constellation to them. "It's like Cyg... ce... Cyg- nies? Cygnus, that's it!"  
As Bloodhound was inspecting the stars with their eyes behind their mask, trying to figure out what row of stars Mirage was talking about, they noticed a similiar pattern to Cygnus.  
"I see it", they confirmed, "Right there." Their finger was pointing about to the same point where Mirage had tried to point at.  
"Cool, right? I actually don't know many of them, just- Just the ones I learned with my mom." Mirage lowered his hand, eyes locked on the sky as he was seemingly trying to find more constellations he'd know. Bloodhound tilted their head a bit to look at their partner - focused on the stars and squinting his eyes to make sense of the patterns - and behind their mask, never visible to Mirage's eyes, they let a little smile grow on their lips.

"I found a Pisces earlier", Bloodhound mentioned with a slight amount of amusement in their voice and immediately got Mirage's attention.  
"Huh? And you didn't show me? Rude", the man gasped with an offended hand lifted up to rest against his chest like he'd be in a drama show. He was great at showing his acting skills.  
"I didn't", they confessed, "I wanted you to find it. Look for it, perhaps you'll see it."  
And maybe it was just a plan to get Mirage focused on the sky again and not get distracted by every sound around them or every leaf falling from the tree; Bloodhound loved to hear his voice and hear what he had to say, but sometimes they also liked for Mirage to stay still. So they could admire him without him being really aware of it - they were still new to their feelings and how to express them, so they'd rather admire him from further away for some time.

It didn't happen quick - Mirage had his eyes focused on the patterns for a longer time. Bloodhound, too, tilted their eyes up to see the sky and immediately they'd recognize the Pisces shining in the sky. Of course it was easy for them - they had spotted it earlier, unlike the man next to them, trying his hardest to make sense of the constellations.  
"Uh... I don't know if I can find it", Mirage thought aloud and his attention still didn't drop from the sky.  
"You can", Bloodhound encouraged their partner, lifting their hand up a bit to point to the sky; "Look."  
"Hey- Yeah! I see it!" Mirage pointed at the constellation, "There, right?"  
Instead of a vocal response, they nodded and noticed a proud smile on Mirage's lips. They lowered their hand to rest on the ground between the two of them.  
"Thanks", Mirage let out a sweet laugh as his hand dropped to grasp gently on Bloodhound's hand, "For the help. It's pretty."  
Bloodhound shifted their hand a bit to feel Mirage's hand better in their gloved one.  
"It is."

Adding to the light the moon was offering to the pair from the sky, shining down on them like the love it had gathered from the people around the world, they sensed another source of light behind their shoulders. The light, as pretty as a slight bit of fresh fire, revealed itself as fireflies as they moved forward for the two of them to see.  
"Oh! Fireflies", Mirage spotted them right away as he got up to his feet, "I've seen them once before. You can even catch them- Look!"  
Bloodhound kept their eyes on Mirage as he tried to catch fireflies in his hands - after a few failed attempts, he finally seemed to get one in his hands. He was quick to hold his hands together in a ball, keeping the inside of his palms hollow for the firefly to live in.  
"I have never seen fireflies before like this", Bloodhound confessed as they watched Mirage get down on his knees in front of them.  
"Well then", he smiled and shot a wink of an eye at them, "Here's a firefly I catched for you. With love. So much love."

As Mirage revealed the firefly catched between his hands, it stayed still for a while for Bloodhound to inspect it before flying away to catch with the others of its kind. Bloodhound felt kind of cheesy.  
"With so much love?" they asked with the slightiest bit of a laugh escaping their lips as they took a hold of Mirage's hand, who had just offered it to help them up. They felt him pull them up on their legs, but neither of them let go of each others hands.  
"Yep", they could hear Mirage's voice having pride mixed in it as he replied with a wide smile, "I mean- I think it's pretty obvious by now that I like you. A lot."  
"I am aware", they reminded him and lowered their hand along Mirage's, "There have been many times you have told me that."  
"Does it bother you, though?"  
Bloodhound kept their eyes, still covered behind their mask, locked on Mirage as they waited for him to continue. They felt him starting to fiddle with their fingers a bit and they noticed him glancing to the side.  
"Like- I say it a lot, and you don't really, and it's okay because you're new to this, and- I'm not. And I like to say it, because- I don't know, I just wanna let you know all the time. I know, it can be... dumb or something."

Bloodhound didn't feel guilty for not being expressive with their mutual feelings yet - they had Mirage's support on it. However, they did feel bad for making Mirage feel like he couldn't be vocal about his feelings; if they had even done that - sometimes Mirage worried about things for a longer time before even mentioning anything about it.  
"It makes me happy when you say it", Bloodhound told their partner and with a cautious move, they placed their other hand to hold Mirage's hand to stop it from fiddling. He seemed to start relaxing under their touch, letting out a quiet sigh - or maybe it was a breath he had been holding in - before he, again, smiled at Bloodhound.  
"Glad to hear that, then", he shrugged it off like he hadn't even worried at all, though Bloodhound knew the truth. "Because I'm not gonna stop saying it."

Bloodhound felt the corners of their mouth turn upwards as they kept on holding to Mirage's hand.  
The fireflies beside them seemed to catch Mirage's attention again, though, and Bloodhound glanced at them too. They wouldn't complain about the fireflies - they did bring a sweet light and atmosphere to their moment. Something Bloodhound wouldn't have ever thought to experience.  
"I kinda wanna dance with you."  
Bloodhound glanced at Mirage, who was still eyeing the dim fireflies.  
"Dance?"  
"Yeah, these just- The moment feels right, you know?"  
Sometimes Mirage had the weirdest ideas - or maybe they weren't weird, but Bloodhound had just never thought of them. However, they never complained or thought of declining his offers.  
"Then show me how to", they, with a sweet voice, directed as they pulled Mirage's hand to lead him under the light of the fireflies.  
"Wait, really?" Bloodhound didn't give him too much time to be surprised - they knew he would be happier than ever to show them his romantic gesture.

And he was - Mirage had a clear, sweet smile upon his lips as he guided Bloodhound's other hand to rest on his shoulder and another on his hip. His hands found their way on same places on Bloodhound's body, giving their movement gentle guidance as he started to move slowly.  
"Like this", he guided and Bloodhound tried to follow his steps, getting a laugh from Mirage.  
"You really haven't ever danced like this?"  
"No", they confessed and kept their eyes locked on their feet, trying to find the right rhythm to their slow moves, "Never. I am new to this."  
They grasped the fabric on Mirage's hip a little tighter as they avoided stepping to the wrong side with their foot.  
"Don't worry too much", Mirage encouraged, "Look here. At me, I mean. Don't worry about your steps."  
Bloodhound tilted their head up to see their partner, equal in height with them; and suddenly feeling slightly strange to see Mirage's eyes filled with sparks of the light from the fireflies dancing above them, and not letting Mirage have a look at their eyes. They were sure Mirage didn't mind, though. So they didn't let the feeling of guilt sink into their lungs too far.

"It's easy, right?"  
Bloodhound hadn't even noticed how well they had started to move along Mirage, keeping their hands on him as well as he kept his hands placed on Bloodhound. They nodded as an answer to their partner, slightly tilting their head to the side as they were taking in every detail of Mirage's face they hadn't noticed before.  
They really wanted to say something romantic - something that'd make Mirage feel butterflies in his stomach and stutter like he had done when he had confessed his feelings; but Bloodhound was bad at "flirting", as people called it. Did it have to be flirting? Couldn't they just compliment their partner?  
But what was an acceptable compliment? They had many things in mind they'd love to say, but nothing seemed right enough to tell him yet. Behind their mask, Bloodhound kept on opening their mouth and having it back shut as they kept on thinking.

After a long time of silence had passed, giving them time to think of everything they adored of him but were too afraid to say, Mirage raised his brow in a questioning way enough to get Bloodhound back to their senses.  
"I know I have a pretty face, but I think you've been too quiet to be staring at me like that for a long time", he seemingly tried to joke off the awkward feeling off his shoulders - as Bloodhound suspected it to be, at least. They had got to know Mirage pretty well. They probably weren't wrong.  
"Yes- You are pretty", Bloodhound started to confess, "And this lightning, these fireflies, compliment your face. I was... rude to be staring."  
They could see Mirage's eyes open wide; then his lips part a bit in surprise; then they could sense Mirage's hands on their hip and shoulder starting to shift a bit as his eyes wandered off to the side and he let out a nervous laugh.  
"Wow, that's- That's, um-" As Mirage started to stutter an answer to which he couldn't seem to find the right words for, Bloodhound knew that was the exact reaction they had wished they could see more often; they just were bad at it most of the time.

"That's new?" Mirage seemed to find the words he was looking for as Bloodhound kept their eyes on his face, noticing how he was hesitating to look back at them.  
"Did I say something wrong?"  
"No! No no, no. You didn't." Mirage had his gaze back on Bloodhound, giving their chest a break from the guilty feeling.  
"It's just that- I haven't heard you say anything like that, it- It surprised me, that's all. Not in a bad way, though! I liked it."  
Bloodhound knew he was going to continue talking, judging by his facial expression of wonder.  
"...A lot."  
There it was.

Bloodhound, still shifting on their feet as they held Mirage's hip and his shoulder, leaned closer to their partner to feel his warmth on their clothed body.  
Me too, they wanted to say; they didn't open their mouth, no matter how they wanted to let Mirage know their feelings. They couldn't.  
Instead, they let their head fall on Mirage's shoulder and they turned their face to rest the cheek of their mask against him.  
They could feel Mirage lowering his head enough to rest his cheek on top of Bloodhound's head, with slow moves swaying along Bloodhound's movement -  
And they were new to this, these feelings of comfort with someone else and the moments of an acceptable silence, still echoing their unspoken mutual love for their partner -  
And they, in the longest time they could remember, felt at rest.


End file.
